Your Badolescent Self

I just dug this photo out of my dusty old bin of jpegs. It's my friend Sander when he was in 6th grade or so, sometime in the 80s, somewhere in the Rockies. My guess is he worked really hard for this shot, hucking himself silly over and over until he knew he'd have something good to show his bros back in Mass. It raised a number of questions for me, like:

Why did he/we think it was ever OK to wear a teal ensemble?
Did he purposefully accessorize his boots and poles?Really, what is the purpose of pole straps?How high was the "cliff"? 15 feet? 3 feet? My guess is that the landing is only just beyond the bottom of the frame, but that he asked the photographer to crop it out to make it look like it could be huge.

Why did Dynafit start/cease making alpine ski boots?

What the hell is he doing with his face?

Whatever happened to the once-ubiquitous anorak? You just don't see them on the slopes anymore.

It also reminded me that there are probably tons of hilarious shots of all of us from our various adolescent ski adventures. Don't let these classics languish unseen. Email the dorkiest you've got to skiing.intern2@bonniercorp.com. When I have a critical mass, I'll build a gallery here on SkiingMag.com. He or she who submits the best shot shall win a color-coordinated ski ensemble (jacket and pants or a one-piece). I can't promise it will be a classic Columbia outfit like Sander's, but I'll do my best.

To make pure alcohol, start with a batch of raw ingredients. Distill it, and you’ll get a more refined batch. This is how we compiled this best-of-the-year photo gallery. We started with thousands of images. Gradually we selected the shots that illustrate skiing and photography in new and different ways, along with an explanation from each photographer. Please enjoy responsibly. Then we asked you, our readers, to vote for your favorite image. Introducing the Readers' Choice award for Best Photo of the Year.

In Skiing magazine’s February 2009 issue, we ran a letter from Jen Winslow from Maine, who asked for our help finding her a guy who cares about skiing as much as she does. So we sent out a call for help, asking guys to write in and tell us why they deserved a ski date with Jen. Sugarloaf was willing to donate some lift tickets and an apres-ski bar tab for the occasion. Dozens of eligible bachelors from all over the country wrote in, hoping for their chance at romance. The lucky guy? Wes Berkshire, from Colorado, who flew across the country to meet Jen. Here’s Wes' story.

Professional big-mountain skier Henrik Winstedt spends his winter chasing the World Freeride Tour and filming for his personal documentary, Exploded View, which premieres this month.We spoke to him about being a new dad, signing with Salomon, and not owning a car.